Insights To Live A Better Life
I’m a massive podcast junkie. Someone recently asked for my favourite non-finance podcast shows of 2020. I came up with 18! Here they are in alphabetical order…
Continue reading “The 18 Best (non-finance) Podcast Shows of 2020”
Remember the story about Isaac Newton seeing an apple falling from a tree and discovering gravity? Of course, and ever since, it has seemed clear that there a force called gravity which pulls objects down towards the earth – the apple falls to the ground or when you jump you land back down. But it turns out there is no such thing as this force of gravity.
Continue reading “The force of gravity doesn’t exist?!”
The US election seems to have brought out the worst in people. Democrats call Republican supporters fascists and racists; Republicans call Democrat supporters communists and anti-American. But this isn’t just happening during election time, nor just in the US, but it seems to be happening all the time and everywhere – people are quick to negatively label others they don’t like and dismiss them completely. I scanned Wikipedia and the broader internet (not recommended!) for common negative stereotypes of different social groupings, here’s what I found:
Continue reading “Stop Labelling Other People!”
Jaws is the most successful “horror” movie of all time. Adjusted for inflation, it also comes in at number seven for all genres of movie*. The film is 124 minutes long. But guess when the shark first makes it full appearance? 80 minutes into the film. So for most the movie, we just hear about the shark, which is what makes it so scary. Continue reading “How Luck Looks Like Genius In Hindsight (1 min)”
When was the last time you thought about how you breathe? I’m guessing you think more about what you eat, how you exercise, or even how you sleep. Yet, we spend more time breathing than pretty much other activity and of course, it is fundamental to being alive. But do you know how to breathe well? Until recently, I didn’t, even though I’m into meditation.
Continue reading “Stop Breathing Through Your Mouth!”
I was on a Zoom call recently and I noticed how someone in their forties looked very young. It could have been the “touch up my appearance” setting, but they also look young in person. So, what is the secret of such people. Over the years, I’ve asked these preternaturally young people what they do, and here’s what I’ve learned:
Continue reading “How To Stay Looking Young”
It’s one of the seven deadly sins and in some traditions it’s thought to be the root of all evil. Aristotle defined it as feeling pain at the good fortune of others. Immanuel Kant extended the definition to include aiming at destroying others’ good fortune. Contemporary society, however, rarely talks about envy, perhaps because consumerism is fuelled by it. This is all the more reason to shine a light on it. Continue reading “Stop Envy From Hurting You”
It is tempting to think that leadership today is uniquely bad, but when you study history you find that nothing is unique, especially when it comes to human nature. Therefore, I love reading ancient accounts of good leadership, such as by Confucius or Cicero. They can provide us insights into how to be better leaders today. And I recently came across a 7th-century letter written by the head of an empire to his new governor of Egypt on how to lead. It was excellent.
Continue reading “Top leadership lessons from the 7th-century”
I love my pets. I have one dog, Bamboo (a Cavachon), seven cats (from Norwegian Forests to moggies), and five chickens! I also love my films, so I always notice the pets. There are many films that have named pets, and in a surprising number, they play pivotal if not central roles. Don’t believe me? Here’s a selection of them:
Continue reading “Films that were really about the pets!”
I’ve now done over 25 podcast interviews since launching my Macro Hive Conversations podcast show in March. I’ve interviewed high-profile policymakers like former Bank of England governor, Lord Mervyn King, top investors like Jim Leitner and leading academics like Professor Laura Veldkamp (she recently presented at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole gathering). I’ve learned a few things along the way, and a few people have asked me for tips, so here they are:
Continue reading “How To Conduct Podcast Interviews”